One Year Later…
Aaron had more or less gotten used to being a merman by now. He hadn't totally given up on his humanity, but he certainly entertained no thoughts of leaving Clia or living a life without her. He and Clia had been trying to fertilize regularly throughout the past year, hardly ever missing a mating time; but it hadn't happened yet. Neither, as far as he was aware, had Anna and Eric managed to breed yet.
It was a different story for Thea and Lyla: Aaron had sired them a beautiful baby mer-girl, and they were over the moon with joy as new parents. Clia was happy for them, of course, but she couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Not resentful by any means; just a little bit of envy for what they had with Aaron that she so badly wanted.
Aaron made his living as a net-weaver now, which wasn't such a bad life. A bit dull at times, but he didn't really have the knack for hunting fish. He more or less got used to the rhythmic patterns of his new life, like the tides, quiet and predictable, rarely spontaneous, only able to mate with his mermaid when right time of the month came along. All in all, it wasn't so bad; just not as good as life had been when he'd been fully human, a red-blooded mammalian male with a working penis and the means, motive, and opportunity to use it every chance he got.
There was one curious tradition among the merfolk which Aaron had found annoying at first, but now he appreciated it. He had taken to calling it "hump day," for more than just one reason. It was the day of the new moon, exactly the opposite of the height of the mating cycle, when the last one had ended about ten days ago, and the next one was ten days away. On this day, mated mermaids were expected to treat their mates to a bit of sexy teasing: foreplay, dancing, whatever came to mind. It was often the case that Arron would find himself being aroused to the point of frustration by Clia alone, or by Lyla and Thea joining in just for funsies. At first, Aaron had been reluctant to participate in this tradition, but as the months went by, he found that he actually kind of got the idea behind it. Even if they couldn't "go all the way," the journey, the intimacy, it was worthwhile. And it heightened his anticipation of the next cycle, which was always worthwhile in the end.
* * * * * * *
Anna didn't particularly care for the tradition that Aaron called "hump day." Mermaids just didn't have that much of a libido when it wasn't mating time. They could hardly even build half-way up to a climax like the mermen could. She wanted to be able to feel like that; she wished that she could properly enjoy some sexy-times during the three dead weeks out of every month that her fishy hormones shut down. But it wasn't possible. She missed being human. She missed being able to come just from intimate contact and not some elaborate cycle of mating and pheromones.
She loved Eric, and Eric doted on Anna, but she was getting a little worried that for all their trying, they hadn't had a kid yet.
* * * * * * *
One dusky evening, a little over a year since his re-transformation into a merman, Aaron was testing a net outside the mer-village, within sight of the Tide-Flats. Something overhead caught his eye; it was a twinkle, a sparkle, coming from the surface of the water up above. It looked a bit like a shooting star, except of course that Aaron wasn't seeing the sky when he looked up, he was seeing, well, more water above his head.
Whatever it was, it was streaking like a comet or a meteor, and it was falling towards the flats. When it impacted, there was a little mushroom cloud of sand in the distance and a dull thud.
Aaron didn't go straightaway to investigate. Instead, he went back to the village.
He went to find Anna.
They had a pact, the two of them: they were to watch the tide-flats, and if there was ever any sign of anything odd—particularly something that might be a magic necklace—one would report it to the other.
In the past year, Aaron and Eric had not become friends. But they had more or less buried the hatchet and become civil to one another. When Aaron arrived at Eric and Anna's house, Eric was there—they exchanged curt nods—before Aaron shouted after Anna, "Something fell! Something fell from the sky, onto the Tide Flats!"
Anna came swimming out of the big shell-house with her face lit up, beaming. "A necklace!?"
"Could be," said Aaron. "Wanna go check it out?"
Anna looked over at Eric, who shrugged, unconcerned. He knew his Anna would always come back to him; the necklace was just another chance for her to visit her family, but in more comfort this one time. "Sure!" said Anna.
And off they went.
But when they got to the tide-flats, they did not find a magic necklace.